University of Kentucky College of Agriculture

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Sweet sorghum for ethanol

Feasibility of Ethanol
Production from Sweet Sorghum
in Kentucky (July 2009)

Sweet sorghum improvement

New sweet sorghum hybrid seed available


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Crop Diversification & Biofuels Research & Education Center logo

Contact Us

For more information, contact:
Christy Cassady, Coordinator

Crop Diversification & Biofuel Research & Education Center
N-318 Agricultural Science Center
University of Kentucky
Lexington KY 40546-0091
(859) 257-1477
cgcass0@uky.edu

sweet sorghum in field

Sweet sorghum has potential as a food crop and for ethanol production.

Sweet Sorghum

Objectives:

    Sweet sorghum improvement

  • The long-term objective is to improve sweet sorghum varieties for increased production and profitability.

  • Investigate the genetics of high sugar concentration in plant introduction materials.

  • Select a high yielding genotype with early maturity, disease resistance, lodging resistance, and high juice brix.

  • Continue purifying and making available seed of released and heirloom sweet sorghum varieties.

  • Utilization of sweet sorghum as a feedstock for ethanol production

    The overall objective is to evaluate the feasibility of using sweet sorghum as a feedstock for ethanol plants. The objective will be accomplished using the following specific tasks:

  • Evaluate the sugar content and juice yield from sweet sorghum varieties in Kentucky related to ethanol production.

  • Calculate the fermentation efficiency of sweet sorghum juice.

  • Measure the cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin content of the bagasse to evaluate it potential as a feedstock for pretreatment and enzyme saccarification.

  • Investigate various methods to safely store sorghum juice up to twelve months before fermentation.

  • Estimate the economics of sugar production and juice storage using an engineering economic model.



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This site was last updated on March 4, 2011
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